Throughout school, Shakespeare is constantly forced down our throat in English Literature Classes. His sonnets, plays and works dominate the landscape, and although he is widely considered one of the greatest writers in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist, I’ve always viewed him as overrated. Would this beer be the same? Or would I actually enjoy this version shoved down my throat? Lets find out…

Appearance – 93: The beer pours a very foamy and dark tan head that lingers for quite some time and leaves behind a significant amount of lacing, which was good to see. The color is a deep black which swallows up any surrounding light as it it were a black hole. In “King Henry V” a famous line reads “I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety”. I’d gladly give a moment or two to stare at this one dissipate again. Beautiful color.

Aroma – 90: A “no frills” beer to be sure, Rogue’s offering has but 10 ingredients to it, namely rolled oats, roasted barley, yeast and malts. This comes through when smelling the beer – there are no complicated infusions to figure out or notes of cinnamon or coffee to sniff for. The simplicity is refreshing, leaving an earthy malted smell on your nose.

Body & Texture – 92: As to be expected with an Oatmeal Stout, the initial mouthfeel is heavier, but the immediate feel on the tongue is more watery than creamy.

Taste – 91: Some stouts leave a decidedly heavy feel after the first sip or two, but that wasn’t the case with this selection. The flavors are light but decidedly there – an earthen flavor stems from the rolled oats which leaves a mellow chocolate aftertaste which lingers for but a moment. The thing which continually struck me about the taste was despite the look and smell of the beer how easy it was to drink and light it sat on my palate.

Overall – 91 (Excellent): Rogue continues to put forth excellent beers, and this is no exception. One of the flagships of their impressive line, their Oatmeal Stout lived up to its reputation. The beer is surprisingly easy to drink and comes with a mid-range 6.1% ABV, and is much more light and playful than one would come to expect from a stout. Part of me wished that the brewery had added in more ingredients to boost the flavor profile, but the other part is happy that they nailed what they were trying to put forth – a fantastic stout which pours, smells and tastes fantastic. “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late” to taste this one.

Purchase Value – (C+): A 22oz bottle of this currently retails for $7.99, which means that given the quality of the beer, the consumer is getting an above-average return on their investment. Would certainly recommend getting a bottle to drink or age.

Look: Another one of those 'black as Hell at night' stouts - blacker than a black thing with absolutely nothing if you hold it up to the light. Light, it seems, just falls right on into it. Fairly long-lasting mocha-brown head, plenty of bubbles and a bit of lacing on the glass.

Smell: In terms of smell, you can sure pick the Cascade hops out of this one - right out of the gate there's that grassy, resiny smell of hops with everything else lurking in the background. To be honest, the smell owes more to that of an IPA than it does a stout - grain notes are fairly subdued, anything else is non-existent. Most peculiar, but not altogether unpleasant.

Taste: All that said, it does taste like an oatmeal stout - here the hops blend in rather nicely with the chocolate/roasted malt flavours to the point where the taste is almost the reverse of the smell. Again, peculiar but not unpleasant. It's actually rather tasty.

Feel: Quite smooth but fairly watery compared to a lot of American stouts I've had and pretty much every British stout ever. It lacks a certain something which I can't quite put my finger on.

Overall: Imagine a malt-forward IPA and you've got something a bit like this - it's an interesting take on the style, but even leaving out my somewhat local bias, Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout leaves this eating dust. Worth a try, but there are better oatmeal stouts out there. I kind-of expected better from a Rogue beer, and sadly I can't share the enthusiasm that others have shown.

The beer pours a very foamy and medium dark tan head that lasts quite a while. The beer itself is an opaque black. The lacing is a very nice look when it is on the glass.

The beer smell is extremely hoppy for an oatmeal stout. The beer smell has some light chocolate notes and some very strong oat notes that do not create a nice smell with the strong hop notes. The hops seem to dominate all the other notes and kind of ruin the smell. Thee hop smell itself isn't bad but the lack of roastness or chocolate sweetness that normally accompanies the beer style isn't there. Rather, the beer smells like an IPA with some chocolate and roast notes.

The taste follows the nose to a certain extent but has stronger roast and chocolate notes. The hop notes are fairly bitter and block out most of the other notes except for the oats.

The mouthfeel is pretty disappointing for an oatmeal stout. The beer is medium bodied but on the lighter side and feels bit watery. The beer is smooth but not creamy.

Overall, a pretty disappointing oatmeal stout and wondering if I just got a bad bottle. The beer overall smells, feels, and tastes like a malty IPA. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone if they're looking for a good oatmeal stout.